Citizen of the World take a break from the constant traveling and sit down to talk to us before their upcoming gig for round one of Emergenza Festival Australia at The Lair. We find out what keeps them motivated to play their epic folk tunes and what might be in store for next Wednesday, April 9th at The Lair. Hear it in the band’s own words:

CAN YOU INTRODUCE US TO THE MEMBERS OF THE BAND AND TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR FORMATION?
Yeah, so we’re a 5 piece “Epic-Folk” band (if you’re intrigued and don’t know what that could possibly sound like, come to our gig!) made up of a singer who doesn’t quite know what country he belongs to, a keyboard player who wears a suit for work, a drummer who knows more about music than the rest combined, a bass player who didn’t know who Mumford and Sons were before joining the band, and a hyperactive saxophone player.

WHAT’S THE INSPIRATION FOR THE NAME CITIZEN OF THE WORLD?
I started travelling a lot about 5 years ago, moving countries every 6 months to a year, always a bit confused when asked “where are you from?”, so that’s one half of the explanation. The other half is that all the songs “draw their inspiration from those stories that shape your life” (this is our own tag line on our website which I hereby shamelessly advertise), and most of these stories originated in different countries. Beyond all that cheese, however, the main reason is nobody could come up with a better name at the start, so now we have to stick with it.

IF YOU COULD DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND IN THREE WORDS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
Foot-stomping epicness.

WHAT KEEPS YOU INSPIRED TO PLAY MUSIC TOGETHER AS A BAND?
It’s the fierce competition among the band members that keeps us going, wanting to be the absolute best, to play the best solo, sing the loudest, play the fastest beat, to show all the other band members who’s boss…

WHERE HAVE YOU PLAYED BEFORE AND WHAT WOULD YOUR DREAM GIG BE?
I think one of the coolest shows was in Pune in India where some of us got to play a show with Australian percussionist Ben Walsh. The dream would be to play in front of a wild crowd at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.

HOW ARE YOU PREPARING FOR THE SHOW AT THE LAIR?
Rehearsing in our own Lair - the drummer’s basement.

WITH OTHER BATTLE OF THE BANDS COMPETITIONS AROUND, WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE EMERGENZA?
Who else gives you the opportunity to play at the Metro and The Factory Theatre (I dare not even mention Germany…)?

For more details on the show at The Lair @ The Metro Theatre in Sydney on April 9th, click here.